Motorcycle Safety Site

Some People Should Not Be Riding Motorcycles
(A Curmudgeon's Point Of View)

By: James R. Davis

I have decided to list a set of opinions here that some of you might not have expected from me. Since it is clear that motorcycle riding is rather a passion of mine, it might seem strange to some of you that I actively try to discourage a few people from sharing this sport with me. Nevertheless, I do.

For example, if the person is male and under the age of 30, (Honor-Roll students, choirboys, war vets, doctors, lawyers, Indian Chiefs included), I don't think they should get within 30 feet of a motorcycle, but that is obviously unfair in the extreme.

(Now that I think about it, the same holds true if the person is female and under the age of 30.)

Somewhat more seriously, a newly married man or woman might be well advised to defer ambitions to ride a motorcycle until their attention and focus can be redirected/broadened. This is not an opinion held with any particular strength, however.

Higher on the list though is a parent of relatively young children. This person, it seems to me, is risking far more than his or her life on a motorcycle.

A person who is genuinely terrified of the activity should be engaged in some other sport. And, on the other side of that same coin, a person that has no fear, whatever, probably should not be riding motorcycles either.

Anyone who believes that they should not be riding, for whatever reason, is right. To ignore that particular inner-voice is foolish in the extreme. (This does not mean these people should never ride, only that they should not ride while they happen to believe that they shouldn't.)

A currently active alcoholic or drug addict is obviously not a person who should be driving anything (nor should they be allowed onto your motorcycle as a passenger).

Finally, and this one is sure to find a few more people that will take a great dislike towards me; because riding a motorcycle takes as much judgment and clear thinking as it does skill, I think motorcycles should not be a sport taken up by anyone that confuses the wearing of a helmet (as opposed to a law regarding the wearing of it), with civil rights. (The wearing of a helmet is a safety issue, a helmet law is a civil rights issue.)

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